Issuu

GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING

John Welss. Executtve Dlr€ctor of thc National Centcr forFairand OP('l Testlng' crlttclzcs stmdardizrd tc:rts ln an lntcMcw, pagc l9

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: OFFICE ANNOUNCEMENTS P. 2-3 Welcome, Norna Rlchoux Ross SubscripUon Drive 1988 Directory

ApprenUceships Available

NCACSDirectory

p.3-6

NEWS & REPOK|S MAKING CONTACT

Helptul Official in Ontario Ttouble in CermanY Newl-awturWV Victory in Texas Court CF{ALLENGES StressfulYear Unschooling

& CONCERNS P'7-8

Feeling Isolated

"Where'sYour School?"

WATCHING CHILDREN LEARN

Rethinking NormalitY John Holt on Correcting Mistakes Math History, Reading

OLDER HOMESCHOOLERS P. 12-13 CHILDREN IN HOSPITAIS P. 13-14 BOOK REVIEWS P. 15-18 FOCUS ON TESTING P' re-22 The Uses ofTests Testing Experiences

p.23-25 ''winners" RESOURCES p.25-2a Abacus Beads Tapes Books

ADDITIONS TO DIRECTORY P. 2

Foryears, we have been telllng people who asked us about college admisslon requirements licr homeschoolers that although a htgh school dtploma was not necessary, scholastic Aptitude Test scores (or scores from other college Board exams) usually were. "lnsututlons say they want somethlng normatlve, standardized, some way toludge everyone equalty," we:d explaln, almost as lf colleges could be excused for thinldng that the SATwas the way to do thts. Of course it isn't. and we all ought to become fluent ln the dlscussion of why it isn't. The SATbears directly on all of us, iven those of us who have already taken it' never thought about taklngit, orwon't have to think about taklng tt foryears. As I talked to p.opi. about the SAi tn preparatlon for the sectlon on testlng In thls lssue of GWS' I ieattzea that it has become s)monymous ln this country wtth the idea that testlng is sensible and, even more basic, possible. When we hear people talk about how much they can learn about someone's lntelligence from a sin$le SAT score, we are hearing the same thinking that makes people decide that requirtn$ homeschooled children to take a yearly stan-dardlzed test wtll reassure ev€ryone that those chtldren are learning. In ottreiwords, believing that standard?ed tests measure somethtng important-or can be used to inform irnportant decisions is just as erToneous, andJust as potentially harmful, whether the decision is about a college applicant, an 8-year-old hoping to be

allowed another year of homeschooling, or any one of the many-people who lind themselves in situailons in which thesi tests matter. The belief ls essenllally the same. Part of what this means is that we should see the testing issue as awhole' Readers with young children should not dismiss the discussion of the SATin this issue of GWS as irrelevant to them. Readers with older (or no) chtldren should not thtnk the testing ofyoung children ls somethlr:rg that no longer concerns them. Agaln, lt's all part of a p.ltt"rri-". *ay of looking at tnleligence and its measurement which. if we want to challenge, we have to challenge in its entirety. We"should applaud and Jncourage whatever supportive research and news on the subject we find. Specifically, homeschmling parents who ar€ negotiating testing .rrJng.-..tts wit'h their sihool districts can use the news that some colleges havestoppEa requiring the sATas important information about current use of standardtzed tests. (see story, page 2l) Parents can also use other research that the National Center for Fair and Opeir fesUng (lnteMew, page l9) ls collectlng to back up their ar€Uments. We're not alone in our criticlsm and questioning of standardized tests. FailTest is working to make the testing industry more accountable, and parents, too' can demand accountability of the verylesters who are askln$ homeschoolers to be accountable to them. We shouldn't let so many important declsions about our children be made on the basis of tests which are as flawed as so many standardized tests are

turning out to be.

Rt this point, many parents may be thinliing, "But what about meanwhile' when our children do have to take these tests?" To thii I say, while your children have to take these tests, learn everything you can about them' Find out how they're made, discover the tricks and ways ofttri.rt ing *hlch make lt easy to score high onthem' and help your children unierstand theJe trlcks. At tle same time, quesdon thelr value and l""rr-"y. The saddest consequence of our belief in standardized testing i:s that our children come to share it, and makeJudgments about themselves which they might never otherwise have made. At the viry least, children who have to take standardized tests should see them as necessary but basicalty tnstgniflcant hurdles or games'-lt's unfortunate that so often these hurdles stand between us and somethingwe really want to do (continue homeschooling, enter some instltution, take part in some work)' we should know enough about them so that we are able toJump them easily, but we should also knowenough about them to distrust them. David Owen, in hislmportant book None oJThe Above: Belindthe MythoJ scholasticAptth-rde (avail. here, 7.95 + post.), wrltes: 'Uust as war ls too lmportant to be left to the generals, testing is too important to be left to the test-makers' We all owe it to oursehel and especially-our childien to swallow our anxieties and take a look at what actually goes on behdd the facade of scientlfic lnfallibtlity that the Educational Testing Servi"e [wtrictr sells the SATI has erected between itself and the society it helps to shape... The scientific mystique on which their powerdepends is an illusion." thi more we know about standaidlzed tests, the less subject to this illusion we will be. --- Susannah Sheffer

OFFICE NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS WELCOME, NORNA! I'm delighted to say that my daughter, Norna Richor:x Ross, was born on Friday, May l. "Nonra' is the Kung Bushmen's nickname for Lorna Marshall, an elderly anthropologlst friend of Frank's. As I sald tn OWS #81, we planned a home btrth, and all tndlcadons were excellent. However, after many hours oflabor, the baby dtd not descend, even though I was fully dllated, and the mldwlves detected "fctal dlstress" (low heartbeat). So, we had a 2 a.m. ambulance rtde to Malden l{ospital, some tcsts (whlch lndtcated lt was OK to walt a little), and finally an 8 a.m. declslon for a Csectlon. The baby's posterlor position plus a uterlne lnfectron appear to have been the cause of the problcm. We have no regr€ts - Norna is beautiful (of coursel) and we got excellcnt care. As we kncw beforehand, Malden Flospital has the most liberal matemity pollcies around because other alternative-minded lamllies and pr-actlUoners have paved the way. Frank, Noma and I had complete rooming-ln and were able to rest and relax for llve days instead of lighung an lnstitution, and we felt fortunate. Norna is two weeks old as I write, and a Joy to hold and to tend. I am recoverlngvery quickly from the surgcry and am loolidng forward to what the comlng weeks and months wJll bring. --- Donna Richor:x

SUB DRIVE: UPDATE We continue to appeal to you for help with our subscription drive. Since the last issue of GWS wcnt to press, several of you have offered help for which we are very grateful. Neil Brick of Brighton, Mass. is taking out a $lOO classified ad for us in the magazine Mother Jones - all we have to do is wrlte the ad copy. We're excited about reaching Motler Joness audience, and hope some others ofyou can follow Neil's example with other

publlcations. Several ofyou have offered to distribute flyers and catalogues for us at homeschooling and I.a kche kague confercnces. This ls always a big help to us, since we cannot possibly be at all these events. We've printed up a l2xl8" stgn that says GROWNG WITIIOUT SCHOOUNG in block letters. lf you'd ltke to use ttris to ldentlff a display table at a conference, let us know. We've realizcd that people will probably flnd it easier to represent us at big events if they have some llterature whlch summarizes our philosophy and activities. Tom Maher has found a way for us to prlnt up brochures at very low cost, and we are going to take advantage of this over the summer. We'll print two brochures, one focusing on Holt Associates and one focusing on homeschoollng ln general. We'll let you know when these are avallable. Ftnally, we've seen several gift subscrlptions in the matl recently, and we appreciate ttrls indivldual response to our drlve very much. After a[, if the person you give the gift to ltkes GWS, he or she rnight tell someone else, who mlght tell someone else and before you know lt, our circulatlon wlll rtval that ol Paple magaztnel Thank you for conunulng to think of how to help us. - SS

RECENT PUBLICITY An excellent artlcle ln the April l4th Woman's Day called "Does Homeschooltng Pass the Test?" brought us over 60O requests for ireformation. Many of these tncluded orders ficr our "Homeschooling Resource Llst," whtch was mentioned in the article, and at this wrlflng (early May) our stalT i,s stlll busy fllling these orders. We were also part of an Aprtl 24th Chrfst{an *bnce Monllor supplement on educatlon, which turcluded artlcles on Summerhill, Montessori schools, and homeschoolingl, all very thorough and interestlng. Thls and several other talks with regional r€porters and radio inteMewers have kcpt our "publicity department" (whose staff members look very like those in our edttortal, buslness, and child care departments) quite busy. Pat Farenga and I led two sessions ofa workshop called "Evaluattng the Ellectrveness of llomeschooling" at the Ninth Arrnual New England Test Measurement and Evaluation Conference in Plymouth, New Hampshire on March 25th. We spoke to school princlpals, superlntendents, guldance counselors and teachers, and were able to talk not only about "traditional" methods of evaluatlon but also about how parents and ctrildren mlght Judge whether homeschooling was effective. We found our audlences overwhelmingly sympathetic; one wom:rn who was in charge of homeschooling requests ln a New Hampshire district stood up and told the other members of the audience that she thought they all ought to be helpful to homeschoolersl - SS

1988 DIRECTORY Once again we will be discarding all names Ar the Directory, and we ask that lf you want to be listed in the next complete Directory (GWS #60) you send us your entry. Deadline is September 30. We're dolng this for two reasons. Discardtng and re-compiling seems to be the only uray to keep the Directory reasonably correct, and tt was two years ago that this was last done. Also, our switch to the Maclntosh means that everyone from the old Directory would have to be re-typed anyway, so we mlglht as well be entering current lnformatlon. The last time we compiled an all-new Dlrectory, we were delighted that it tumed out to be nearly as blg as the old one that had been accumulating names for seven years. So please use the entry form ln the back of this issue, or send us a separate 3 x 5 card or postcard (one card per famlly). The on! people who do not need to tell us again to put them in the Directory are those who already told us in 1987 - that is, those whose additions or changes appear ln the summaq/ of changes in this issue. Also, at the request of pc.ople lnvolved with the GWS Travel Dlrectory, we are addtng a new code letter to Dtrectory llsttrgs. Ifyou would be willing to host other GWS readers who are traveling, lndicate so and we wlll put an "H" at the end of your lisdng, What rvould lt mean, to be a host? It muld mean anythlng from puttlng up one person overnlght to hosting a fanrily or group for a long stay. The maJor rule for visltors ls, all arrangements

must be done in writ@, irr aduonce. No showing up unannounced at the last mlnute expecting a place to stay - the "hosts" tn such a case MUST be free to say, "I'm sorry, we cannot put you up now." Hosts should also be able to spectS certaln requlrements ln the advance arrangements - no srmldng, no stays longer than a certaln length, etc. We do not have room to lndlcate such detalls tn GWS, so you wlll have to express them dlrectly to potential visltors, - DR

DIRECTORY ON LABELS LEARNING AT HOME, PO Box 27O-G, Honaunau Hl 96726,ls selltng our Dlrectory in computer label forrnat. They have comblned names from our old and present Dtrectory and have vreeded out the ones that the post olDce has returned. Organlzatlons or companles wantlng to do dlrect matllngs rnight ltnd these labels useful. LEARNING AT HOME is selling them for $75 per thousand; mlnlmum order is 35O names or $25. Holt Assoclates receives loolo ofthe pro0ts on each order.

APPRENTICE WITH US We have two apprenflce posttions avatlable at Holt Assoclates. Apprendc.es must enJoy rrrcrldng ln the company of children and be able to travel and live on thelr own. Anyone ofany age may apply. The length of the apprendceship is flodble - tt could be a two-week vlslt, or a year of regular work, or anything ln between. We cannot pay appr€ntices. In the past we harr sometimes been able to an:ange for out-of-town workers to stay wlth a local CWS farnily ln exchange for some chlld care, but lf you have friends or relaUves ln thls area, that makes lt even easier. The two apprendceships are: EDTTORIALASSISTANT: You will see how GWS is put out from start to finish, and wlll participate in all stages of the process. Good typing ls very much preGrred, as we do all tlTing ourselves. The more comfortable you are with writing and ediung, the more such responsibilides will be added. Write to Susannah Sheffer lf lnterested. OFFICE ASSISTANT: Ieam the details of our mall-order book business. Tlpfu:g ts less necessary here, but it will open up more possibilities for you. We're mainly looking for enthusiasm and comfort wtth oltce tasks. The work includes shipping and recneivlng books, keeptng irrventory records, ans',rcrlng phones, working the copy machine, and many other olllce skills that are transferable anyvhere. Wrlte to Patrick Farenga tf

lnterested.

WHEN WE DON'T WRITE We sometimes get letters here which say somethlng llke, "I wrote to you a while ago and haven't received a response." I'd llke to take a little space to ansu/er all of you who may have felt frustrated at not r€celving an acknowledgment or reply from us. Some explanation may make our sltuadon clealer. CWS ts ln the funny posltron of literally deWrdiw on your letters and at the same ume being unable to acknowledge many of them. Thls rnav leale the wrlter of the letter GROWING WTNIOUT SCHOOLING #57

wonderlng whether it was rcc'eivcd, and if it was reccfied who read lt, and did the person who read tt thlnk about tt or mer€ly toss lt

NEWS & REPORTS

astde?

LIVING NEAR HOMB.

The truth ls that we read and think about each plece of matl that crosses our desks. Oftenwe show letters to one another. Some letters demand a response, and ln those cases we respond. Many letters are lnter€stlng, informadve, and thought-provoklng. They tell us somethtng we didn't know, or they conflrm somethtng we had suspected. In either case, they enrich our sense of homeschoollng-and helP us trnagine the lives of people we cannot actually visit. As you, know,-letters often get prtnted l-n GWS. Those that don't rntght tnsplre an artlcle of our own, or remlnd us to prlnt another letter on the same toplc.

But the dllltculty ls this: we have to choose between answerlng your letters as fully as they deserve - gving acknowledgmcnt to those of you who suggest books for us to read, responding to the stories you tell us about your lves - and dolng the rest of our work. There are only a couple of us here tn the ollice, and thousands ofreaders. In my case, of cpurse, the choice ls between answering all lctters and putUng out CWS, I beLeve that if glven that cholc.e, most of you would choose GWS. In fact, GWS ls our way of answcrlng

your letters. If you watch closcly, you rnay se€ a concernvou ralsed ln a letter addressed ln an lssue oi the magaztne! even though you did not rec€ive a personal resPonse. Plcase know, then, that your letters are always lmportant to us, They are never Just Iiled auray. You contribute to our thinking, our lnformatlon, and our understandlng. When we do our dally urcrk at Holt Assoclates, I ltke to thtnk that we are, ln a very real sense, responding. - SS

DIRECTORY OF SCHOOLS The Nattonal Coalitlon of Altemative Communlty Schools has recently published an excellent dtrectory of lts member schools, and most lmportant for us, they have tncluded for the llrst tlme a sectlon called "Home-Based Schools and Resource Informatlon." There are 35 listings, some familtar to homeschoolers but most not. Many are schools that lnvite homeschoolers to use thelr resources. Anyone ln need of this lnformaUon should send $lO to NCACS, RD I Box 378, Glenmoore PA 19343 and ask for the 1987-88 Nattonal Dlrectorv of Altemative Schools. If you use the tnf6rmation ln this dlrectory, please write and tell us about it.

REVISING BORN TO LOVE Joann Grohman, author of BORN T0 LOVE, which we scll here, wrote recently: "l plan to revise the book, and I'd like to gct the word out to my readers that I will welcome suggestions and commentary." Joann's addrcss ls: 6O N. Beretania #3802, I-Ionolulu HI 996817.

REMINDERS Christmas shopping ads are due Septcm-

ber lsth (cws #59). We

will be maldng the {lnal selection of

books for our fall cataloa in-Julv, so if vou've bc€n \ratdn{ to hear whEther a-particular book wtll be avail-able, that's the time-to ask. GROWING WITHOTIT SCI{OOLING #57

SCHOOLERS Lauren McElroy

usrites

uith neus

the MAKINO COMACT rettwrk: There are now 37 families in MAKING CONTACT, coverlng a wlde range of lifestylcs and living ln many different gcographic areas. The two things we all have 1n common are that we allow our chlldren to grow without schooling and that wc are tntercstcd tn ltving

near other famllles who sharc this outlook. These families usc MAKING CONTACT as a ktnd of bulletin board for letting others know about themsclvcs. Fach family Puts together a one-page descripUon of themselves and the ktnd of llvtng situation they would Itkc. They then scnd thls to a ccntm.l address (PO Box 626, Booncvllle CA 95415). As new famlies Join, the pcrson handling letters scnds ncw lettcrs to famlllcs already DErrtlcipatinA, and sends the new families the ietters'alrealy on ftlc. The network is nonprofit and volunte.er. Five dollars covers the lopying and poslage costs. Contributlons above-Ge five dollars go to advcrtising, which ls how we collecti'rcly rcach more and morc familics, and at a cost much lower per famlly than lf we were cach to place our own ads. In thls way, by rcadtng cach othcr's "introductlons, " MAKINC COM ACT families have been beginning to get to know each other. Some have begun to develc.P friendshrips by corrcsponding with familics they'd like to gct to know better. Some have also visitcd cach othcr. There isn't an establtshcd "reporting back" system, so we don't always know what happcns when families do "make clntact," but two farnilics that I know of arc currently sharing a pic.ce of rural land. llere ls a sampling of some of the letters, shoMng thc range of what famllics arc lntcrcsted in crcating: "For now wc would love to create a neighborhood of support and friendshlp... have at present two rental possibilities next door to us." (rural town, CA) "Our idea is to subdivtde land accordlng to individual necds." f\fD "A land trust (or other cois essential." (NY) operative ' 'Wantventurc) close but flexible tles, tf that's possible... A common business would be idcal... also like the ldca of owning expensive things in corilnon, like VCIls, word proccssors, etc." (MA) "Gradual cooPcration is Lcst for us. I'd like to have somc sort of communlty centcr/school owned togcther, but probably that ls all." (lL) Wriling about this Process of making contact wlth a vtew to crcating conditions t}rat bctter suit our necds as famllies learning togcther, one mothcr wrote, 'We want to thank you for being the lnitiators of MAKING CONTACT. Even lf we don't connect with any of thesc families on a pcrrnanent basis, it's bcen heartening to know that thcre are others in the world who think as we do." As a participant ln this Proccss myself, I feel it's important to kc.ep a balance bctwecn my focus on what I want for my family, ideally, and on bcing comfortable in the present. I want to balance thc process of discussing possibilltics wlth enjoying the setUng in which our family currcntJy ltves' If I begin to place heavy expectations_on a speCific end product, lt secms to take thc zcst oirt of, and evcn to lessen the posstbilities for,

cr€aflng what we wish. Whether familles will eventually live near each other, creating the kinds of ltving situations they'd like - a netghborhood with corrununity felling, a commrlnity land trust, etc. - is up to the famihes themselves and will probably iepend on a combinaUon of factors. Such living sltuatlons may come together tn ways that have [ttle or notlrlng to do with thls network specifically. MAKING CONTACT slmpiy lncreases possibilifles for farnilies.

RAISING ENTRANCE AGE Flom an arlble tnThe Boston Globe, 3/ 26/ 87: More school districts across the nation are ralstng the entrance age for ktndergarten and flrst grade because of concems that too much ls being demanded of youngsters academlcally at too early an age. ...Nancy l,auter-Klatcll, professor of earlv chtldhood educatlon at Wheelock Collcge ln Boston, which spcciallzes ln programs on young children, said the lssue ls programs, not age. "Bccause of the big push for acadcmics and basic skills, schools are trying to Act klds at 4 and 5 to do things apProPriate fo{A-, z- and 8-year-olds," she said. Rather than hold childrcn back so they can perform better in overly academic lilndergartens, she said, kindergarten currlculums should bc made more "devclopmental" - with an emphasis on discovery, rather than workbooks. The Boston School Committee T\resday raised the entrance age for kindergarten and first grade by four months, changing the cutoffdate to Sept. I from Dec. 3l' ...James K. Uphoff, professor of

cducation at Wright State University in Davton, Ohio... and coauthor of "Summer Children: Ready or Not for School," said vesterday that "school after school after lchool h'as been tinding that children cannot cope with the curriculum as

now exists in K

thi.ough 2. Upwards of 4Cf/o of children at 5 are not ready for situng still, for paper and pcncil work, for extensive eye-hand ioordination, for the hcavy academic curriculum which now edsts."

HELPFUL OFFICIAL IN ONTARIO oJ

Cotole Smith wrote in the Sumner tssue C anadion tame schnltrtg

Recess, a

nWaztne: Homeschoolers in Onlario fall under the section of the provincial education act which r€ouires that'satisfactory education' be pr,j"ia"a for chlldrcn whb are not attending school. The questlon of what custitutes GROWING WTHOTITSCHOOLING #57' Vol. lO No. 3. ISSN #O745-5305. Publlshed bl-monthlyby Holt Associatcs, 729 Boylston St, Boston MA O2 I I 6. $2O/)'r. Date of Issuc, June I , 1987. Semnd-cla-ss postagc paid at Boston MA. POSTMASTER: Scnd address changcs to GWS, 729 Boylston St, Boston

MAO2I16. ADVER:I'ISERS: Deadlines are the lSth ofoddnumbercd monlhs. Contact Patrick Farcnga for

currcnt ratcs,

4 'satisfactory education'has been to date, a matter of indMdual tnterpretation. As a result, rnany homeschoolers have been harassed and intimidated bv their local school boards - generally foi not having provided exactly the same education as the school system.

In June, Jake Rogers, the provincial school attendance oltcer, came to a panel

discussion on'The F\tue of Homeschoolfueg ln Ontario," sponsored by the Ontario Homeschoolers support group. In hts presentadon, he sa1d, 'The declsion you have made to homeschool your chlldren ls OK. It's bona$de. It's on the books. You're dl rlght to do iL I get the feeling that homeschoolers have been running scarcd, perhaps Justiffably co. My message to you ls: don't run scarcd. I want to work with homeschoolers in a conciliatory rather than a confrontaflonal way."

...Jake acknowledged that local school boards ar€ autonomous and that ifs not his Job to reprtrnarrd indtvidual school boards.

The problem oflnconslstency on the part of local boards across the province, however, is oart ofhis rnandate. There are various directions in which the govemment can move: l. Change the education act; 2. Change the regulaUons and pollcies app\ring to the law as lt now stands; 3. Leave the rules and reg;uladons as they stand and lnstead work wlth the people trrvolved to solve the problerns dlrectly. The latter ts the dtrecdon Jake Roger prefers. There are currentl5r about zlOO reported homeschoollng farniltes ln Ontario, and while some are getttng har,'assed locally, none have been assessed as not provtding satisfactory educaflon. Rogers suggested that local superintendents who are acting inappropriately can be dealt with properly, and he encourages homeschoolers to keep in touch with him personally. Thlngs may not change quickly in Ontario, but with an honest and fair ally like Jake Rogers as "tmancy officer," I belleve they wtll charge for the better.

VISITING MONTREAL Mywife Dayworks as a freclanc.e producer of c€rporate mulU-lmage slide shows, and this usually means that after about slx weeks of productlon work at our home and at her client's ofrce, Day puts the show on at the conference site. Last month Day had a conference to produce ln Montreal and ure decfded *rat thts would be a great opportunlty for our liamily to travel, especially slnce none of us had been to lanada. I used the GWS Directory (now available ;eparately, in large type, firr $5) to contact Theresa Tlttley who in hrrn used the Quebec Homeschoolers Tblephone Tlee to arrange several meetings, dlnners, and talks wlth Canadian homeschoolers for me. The hospitality and openness of all our hosts, not to rnention the beauty of Montreal, have left Lauren, Day and rne wlth wonderful memories and a yeamlng to vtsit agatn, One mornlqg Lauren and I rpent to hear the Montreal Symphonywith three famlltes who called themselves'The Independent Educators Assoclaflon." Sue Beauregard and her farnily, who had an:anged the outtng for us, then drove us to a homeschoolers plcnic t: Mont Royal Park. The chlldren played, the aduls talked. and the sun shone. It was an espectally tmportant day for l.auren slnce lt

was her lirst independent exposure to nature; she toddled eveqrwhere, examining and tastint every blade of grass, twig and piece of dirt she encountered. It was quite an experience for both of us. A more formal meeting (i.e. it was held indoors and we all wore shoes) was arrangd the next day at the Borque family's home, where I was asked to address about thirtv homeschoolers about John Holt's life and work. When I uras finished, rnany pe.ople asked questions about GWS and howwe were getting on without John. The feedback and support I received made me wish everyone at Holt Associates could be there. because it certainly uplifted me. Most of those in attendance wer€ acfive homeschoolers and quesdons about motivadng teenagers, dealing wlth school authorities, and having proper credendals for llfe after school were among the most asked; ure spent little time on the usual bugaboo of socialization, which was a welcome rellef for us all. What stmck me about both this mecfin6! and the earlier picnic was how often I heard folks remark to one another. "I haven't seen you in so longl" As it tums out, the Montreal homeschoolers are a loose-knit group. Since the govemment respects homeschoollng as a viable alternatlve to publlc school, there isn't a great need for frequent contact among homeschoolers except for social purposes. Meetlng such a diverse, vttal group of famtltes, all homeschooling for a mulutude of reasons, with diJferent backgrounds and with children of all ages, makes me realize agatn what a wonderful patchunrk quilt homeschmllng ls. --- Patrlck Farenga

disobeying the law would set for the children. But beyond the legal problems, one of the biggest difficulties here is that no one has any concept of unschooling. When we try to discuss it with anyone, whether a German or another foreigner, we might as well be speaking Chinese. It reminds me of the way it was in Indiana when we first took Dan out of school in 1981, only worse. In the past few years, homeschoolin! has become well enough known in the US that people who would never consider doing it themselves have come to realize that it is a viable alternattve to other schools, that for some children and some parents it may be a better choice. Here, people seem to be genuinely unable to comprehend anything we say - it's as though we're discussing some esoteric subject that they don't even have the vocabulaqr for, let alone the background to understand. ffhat's literally true: the fine nodce we received mentioned "home schools" in English, the idea being so foreign that they couldn't even translate it and have it mean anything.) It ma.kes it very dillicult for us; we had always taken our supportive friends for grarrted, and here there are none. We've come to really appreciate letters, phone calls, and visits from like-minded people - don't know what we'd do without them.

NEW LAW IN WV F}omtlle

Laut

whtchthe gowrnor signd.

on Maneh 28 ard- wldch utill take elfect Julg

it enactcd by the lcglislaturc of

Wcst Virginia:

TROUBLE IN GERMANY GWS reader

ClaudiaBarbr urote inher

fantlg's neusletter: Unschoollng ln Germany is practically unheard of - and pracflcally impossible. Last vear David and Daniel attended the local schools, David because he wanted to try school, Dardel because the principal

threatened to send the police tf he didn't come. Thls year we enrolled them in Clonl,ara School's HOME BASED EDUCATION PROGRAM and hoped the school people, upon receMng the requests for records, would :ununrc they had returned to the US. Hal Thanks to the wonders of modern technologr (a computer lmows the exact whereabouts of every r€sldent at any g[ven moment), tt took Davld's principal three days to send someone looking for him. Since September, we've been threatened with the police and actually had a fine imposed; we're appealing that and may wind up filing a suit. At first, rve only wanted to drag out all the paperwork and proceedings long enough to keep the kids home tlds year, thinllng we would be retuming to the US before next schoolyear. However, sta)'ing longer would make the whole thireg much more dtlliculL It seems there is absolutely no legal way for a permanent resident tn Bavaria to avoid unwanted schooling. It may be possible to enroll the lidds 1rr the US mtlttary svstem and then teach them at home - we've b-een told qre can do so, but the tulHon ls way beyond our means. It may also be possible to "uru€gstet'' them so the computer can't flnd them, and then lay low. However, that's illegd, and Garry and I hanre serlous r€seryaflons about the o<amPle our

Commencemerx arld termhotion oJ

ulsory schml afteruTance ; exemp tions : Exenptiort B: Instnrctiort in a lome or otler

cotnp

apprordplae:

. ..If such a request for home education is denied by the county board ofeducation, good and reasonable justllication for such denial must be furnished in writing to the applicant by the county board of education. ...It shall be the duty of the person or persons providlng the instruction, upon request of the county superintendent, to furntsh the countv board ofeducation such lnformadon and records as may be required from tirne to dme with respect to attendance, instrucdon and progress of pupils €nrolled between the ages of seven and sixteen years receiving such instruction. ...The person or persons providing home instrucfion lshalll present to the count5r superintendent or county board ofeducation a notice of lntent to provide home instnrction and the name and address ofany child of compulsory school age to be instructed. ...Ttre person or persons providing home instrucdon lshalU submit satisfactory evidence of (i) a high school diploma or equlvalent and {d) formal education at least four years trlgher than the most academically advanced ctrlld for whom the instruction will be provided or achlevement of a score on the Naflonal Teachers E:<aminailon sulficlent for teacher cerdllcatlon in thls state. ...The person or persons providhg home lnstrucflon lshalll outline a plan of lnstmcflon for the ensulng school year and the child receMng home lnstmction [shalll annually take a standardized test, to be administered at a public school in a count5r where the child resldes, or administered by a llcensed psychologist or other person

GROWiNG WTTHOUT SCHOOLING #57

5 authorized by the publisher of the test, or administcred by a person authorized by the county superintendent or county board of cducation. In no event may the chlld's parent or lcgal guardian administer the test... Each child;s testing results shall be made available to the person or persons providing home instructjon, the child's parent or legal guardian and the coun$r superintendent. Deirdre

hrdg

Based Mttcation in Canado. which should be useful anywhere for people wanting to know more about homeschooling. Available frorn ttre CANADIAN ALLI-ANCE OF HOME. SCHOOLERS. I95 Markville Rd, Untonville Ontario IJR 4V8, $14.95 + $l postage and

handling. Colorado: Judy Gelner of the COLORADO HOMESC HOOLING NETWORK

oJAL:IERNATTI/ES IN

EDUCATION conwlents:

While not getting all that we wanted, we job ln removing control and approval ofhomeschools from local superintendents and removing any curriculum or attendance requirements. The tests are, of course, a problem for people with learning disabled or otherwise impaired students, but we think we've given enough lccway in who can administer them to allow us to find sympathetic testers who will help us choose appropriate test levels - e.g. will not tcst young students who cannot rcad on tests that rcquire reading. Nonetheless, in hindsight we wish we had thought more about tcst rcsults. We had many lobbyists from across tlte state, lctter writers, people making phone calls, all of these backing up two pcople (Don Fox and myself) who were close to full-tirne lobbyists. It was a tremendous effort, but exhilaraung since we succeeded. feel we did a satisfactory

LOCAL NEWS For od.dresses oJ state and' IeoI orgonizations, see GWS #54 or our I lomesclooling llesource Ust" at:ailabb Jor $1.

Alaska: Nanry Stitch of the VALLEY IIOMESCHOOLERS NffiWORK writes: "ln rcference to your article in GWS #55, 'Rating The States,' I was also very surprised to see Alaska score a 15. We are not aware of any current conflicts. Before last November's elections, our support groups and parents using the state correspondence course (CCS) met with legislators. In the past few years there had been (minor) legislative attemPts to eliminate CCS for'alternative' students and

only maintain the program for'remote' children. This is still up in the air, but all the le$slators with whom we met were Positive toward CCS. Homeschoolers in A]aska can also file as an 'exempt rellgious or private school' under Sec 14.45. IOO of the Alaska Slatutes. According to one parent who went this route, her attendance report states that 'life is a learning process and school is in session 365 days ayear'and she maintalns all the test results herself. This past year she obtained a $2OO grant from the state for a science project. So, it is quite easy to be legal here, and firr those folks who don't do anything about legalities, the authorities are certainly not after them (at least in our borough)."

Arkansas: Homeschoolers succeeded in defeating HB 1307, which wou-ld have made kindergarten mandatory in Arkansas, according to the April issue of Update, the newsletter of the ARKANSAS CHzuSTlAN HoME EDUCATIoN ASSOCIATION. The bill was defeated 55-35 on the house floor toward the end of the legislative session. Canada: Wendy Priesnitz of the CANADIAN ALLTANCE OF HOMESCHOOL-ERS has written a book called Schod Ftee: Home GROWING WTTHOUT SCHOOLING #57

writes that SB 138 was "Dostpond indefi nitely" in the House' Education Comrnittee on April l. The bill, similar to Georgia's current law, would have made homeschooling a "legitimate alternative to classroom attendance... subJect only to minimal state controls which are currently applicable to other forms of non-public education." The Independence Institute (14142 Denver West Parkway, Suite

lOl,

Golden CO 8o4ol) published a l9-page paper by John Eidsmoe called "Home Education in Colorado: Clari-$'ing Parents and Children's Rights." The paper is available from the Institute for $3. Florida: The May newsletter of the FLO RI DA PAIIENT- EDUCATORS

that HB 2l l, which would extend the Florida Home Education Act of 1985 (originally scheduled to erpire this year) passed lO2-12 in the llouse and now goes on to the Senate. The FPEA newsletter adds: "Attitudes of House members in 1987 are much more positive, as reflected in the many pro-home education comments made by members of the House K- l2 Education Committee. Most legislators voted for us in 1985 but had ltttle mnfidence in us." The Florida Association of Schml Administrators proposed an amendment to the bill which is actually acceptable to homeschoolers: they proposed that homeschoolers be allowed to satisfr the state's compulsory attendance law by "noU-$ing a parochial, religious, denominational or private schol of their intent to establish and maintain a home education program." In other words, because public school admlnlstrators do not want to be responsible for overseeing the growing number of homeschoolers ln their counties, they proposed that this altemate means of notification be available. Michigan: Pat Montgomery of CL,ONIARA tells us that SB I16, introduced in March (with a companlon introduced in the House at the same time), would elimtnate the need for private school teachers to be certified. If thts bill passes, it will have significant implications for home schools as well. Pat says that rnore than IO,OOO people rallied in support of this bill in l-ansing on March 26th. ASSOCTATION reports

Missieaippi: Homeschooler Connie Ball told us that a House bill which would have severel5r restricted homeschooling by allowing the Board of Educatton to require

testing, to speciS the number of hours of teaching, and to have control of the curriculum of home schools died tn comrnittee in March. Connie says that homeschoolers are getung ready to oppose the bill iftt is introduced again nextyear. Nebraska: Homeschooler Rose Yonekura writes that the bill which would have eliminated homeschooling in Nebraska (see GWS #56) never made

it out of committee.

Rose writes. "We are elatedl" and adds, 'The

State Department of Eclucation does not seem to be encouraging county superintendents to

carry out the recently-added requirements

which say they must visit each home school wery four months and require parents to submit a copy of a test in each of five subjcct areas monthly. Linda Stroh, coordinator of the Chrlsdan support group in Lincoln, is meebng with the Board to try to work out a

better râ‚Źqulrement."

North Camlina: Carolyn Winslow of NORTH CAROLINANS FOR HOME EDUCATION writes: "On April 16, a bill was introduced into the House which would severely restrict home schools in this state. If the bill becomes law, homeschooling parents would be required to hold a bachelor's degree from an instituflon accredited by the Southerr. Association of Colleges and Schools, or its counterpart. The members of our organization are busy lobbying against

this bill." Orcgon: The May Homeschalers' Voice Washington state publication) reports: "At the request ofthe Confederation ofOregon School Admtntstrators, a bill lntroduced in the state's House Education Committee would tighten the strlngs on homeschoolers there. The bill would change the word "notification" to "registration" and would require homeschoolers to go through a lengthy registration process. It could put the homeschoolers at the merry of the arbitrary ludgments of local superintendents by eliminatlng testing and leaving the local superintendents to determine a student's (a

progress."

Pcnneylvenia: HB l3&l was

introduced into the House Educatlon Commlttee on Mayl2, according to Susan Richman of PENNSYLVANTA HOMESCHOOLERS. The bill, like the one introduced in 1985, requires homeschooling parents to submit an allidavit to the state Department of Education. This version of the bill includes an amendment which allows three methods of documentation and evaluation: testing, keeplng a portficlio, or having a yearly evaluatlon by a psychologist or certified teacher. On the day that the bill was introduced, 56 legislators attended a breakfast ln Harrisburg at which Howard Fllchman spoke about the bill and six children spoke about their homeschooling. Tenncsacc: Sury Dodd of HOMESCHOOLING FAMIUES writes that three repJonal meedngs concerning the rules and regulatlons for nonpubhc schools in Tennessee were held in late April. Both school and homeschool representatives attended. funong the subJects discussed were the August I deadllne for registering to homeschool, whlch parents ffnd tm restricflve, the locadon at whlch the required achievement tests wtll be administered, and homeschoolers' particiPatlon in school acuviues.

Vcrmont: The bill which would allow homeschoolers to keep records of children's progrâ‚Źss by one ofseveral methods of assessment (see GWS #55) awaits the govemor's sispature at GWS's press time, according to June Schulte of the VERMoNT HOMESCHOOLER^S ASSOCIATION. The bill soon to be law - requlres parents to submit only a brief description of their plans for the upcorning year, and does not speci$ anything

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YICTORY IN TEXAS COURT On April l3th, Judge Charles J. Murray issued a ruling in the class action suit of Leeper vs. Adington Indprdertt *hrrrl District (see GWS #53, 54) which ends the months of uncertaint5r about homeschooling in Texas. The judge ruled that homeschools are private schools under the law, and thus operation of a home school is not a violation of the Texas Education Code. For a state which appeared to have no legal provlsion for homeschooling, this is quite a victory. This decision, and the other good news breaking across the countqr at our press time, suggests that homeschooling is indeed coming into easier times.

From the ruling:

Sectlon 2f .O33 (a)(t) of thc Terae Education Code reade as fo[ows: "(a) The following classes of children are exempt from the requirements of compulsory attendance: (l) Any child in attendance upon a private or parochial school which sha-ll include in its course a study ofgood citizenshio." The Texas legislature has not defined "private or parochial school" in tJ.e Education Code or in any other legislative enactment. Additionally, the Texas legtslature has not given the Texas Education Agenry or the State Board of Education any authority to define "private or parochial school," because such entities have authorit5r only over publib school and public education. There ls no constituUonal provision or stafute in thls slate which requires a child of school age to attend a public school. Plaintills ca-lbraith and Wells and a substantial number of the plaintill class of home school parents have ilready sullered actual injury as a result of being prosetuted because of teaching their school-age children at home schools whlch are Drivate schools within the literal and historical meanireA of Section 2 I .O33(a)( l) of t}Ie Te:<as Educa-don Code. Other plaintills have been threatened with prosecution a-long with others in the plaintiff class they represent... These prosecutions are contra4r to the meaning of the language of Section 21.O33(a)(l) as both originally enactd and as currently understood by persons ofordinary intelligence. The evldence establlshes that from the

inception of the first compulsory attendance law ln Texas Ar l9 l5 it was understood that a school-age child who uas betng educated ln or through the child's home, and in a bona flde nanner by the parents, or those standing in parental authority, a curriculum consisting of books, workbooks or other written materlals deslgned to meet basic education goals of readlng, spelling, grarnmar, mathematics and clvics {a study of good citizenship) was considered to be trr a prtvate school. The dictionary ln use ln Texas at the time of the passage oi the llrst complrlsory attendance law contalned dellnldons of the words "private" and "school" whtch encompassd ctrildren betng taught at home. Educating a chtld by a pdvate tutor was rare because there were so few of them and thev were avallable only to those few tndMdualJ who could allord them. The tutortal wstem was not consldered syron5rmous witti educatlng a chlld ln the home of the parents. The 1923 amendment ellmtnadng the private tutor exempdon was not understood at the time to be elimlnattnt chtldren betng taught at home by their parents. The Te:<as

Education Agency and the public school districts havE been aware ofchildren being taught at home from the incepilon of the -

compulsory attendance law to the time when the agenry changed its interpretation. The evidence further establishes that at the time of the 1923 amendment approximately t'wen$r percent of the school-age population in Texas was being taught in public schools. Therefore, the vast majority of school-age children were being taught at home becluse there were only a fEw pivate academies and parochial schools and these were available only to those who could allord them. This, considered in light of a lack of a road system in many parts of the state up to the beginning of World War ll, necessitate<i school-agE children being taught at home. The legislature had to be aware oflhese facts and woirld not pass a liaw which would place the parents of over 7Uh of the school-age population fu:r violation of it. ...On April 12, 1986, the State Board of Education passd the following guidelines which are contrary to the plain language of the statute and the historical evidence heard by this court: [The glridellnes asked the legislature to dellne "private and parochial" or to allow the Board of Educadon to do so itselfi, and suggested that an enflty may be defined as a school f lt meets flre and sanitalion codes, has a written regular plan of lnstmction, has its students take a nadonallvnormed standard achievement test annuallv and submits the results to the local school district on request. The ruling condnues:l These guidelines were passed in spite of a challenge by the Texas legslattue council... A school attendance ollicer has no authorifu over the conduct of private and paroctrii schools. While the school attendance ollicers do check with private and paroctrlal schools from time to time to determine whether students are in attendanc.e, thev never tell those schools the qualificadoniteachers employed there must meet, the curriculum that must be followed or what testing to do of the sfudents. Therefore, lt ts essendal fior this court to descrtbe the acflvltv whlch falls withtn the scope of the language of the statute ln order to prevent the deprtvaflon of rlghts protected by the Consfltudon and statutory law. Erddence before the court further

establishes that there ls no record from l9l5 to 1981, a period of 66 years, to lndicate that

the Texas &lucadon Agencv-home considered children being educatil at not to be in compliance wittr the compulsory attendance

law. Therefore, an unreasonable and

arbitrary classillcadon of private and parochial schools ls belng attempted by the

To<as &lucation Agency. The essence of this

unreasonable and arbttrarv classillcadon is locaflon and regulation, not actMty wlrtch consdtutes a school. Under the Aprll 12, 1986 resoluUon of the State Board of &lucailon. the only perons who have been prosecuted or threatened are horne school parents. No parâ‚Źnts of chtldren enrolld Ar prlvate or parochtal schools outslde the home bave been prosecuted. The leglslature has made no dlstlnctlon betwcen prtvate and parochlal schools away from the sfudent's home and those Lx the home. Yet, the only sults wtrlch school distrtcts harrc brought through thetr school attendance olllcers have becn against parents of children at home. ,..As noted, the State Board of EducaUon gutdelines of April 12, 1986 were challenged by the Texas kgtslaflve Councll. The Board conceded lt rnlght not have legal authorlty to

promulgate them. It then declared them nonbinding though some of the school districts have declared they consider them binding and will follow them. Article 7, Section I of the Constitution of Texas authorizes the legislature to establish and maintain public education, but it is silent on private and parochial education. Section l O4 of the Texas Educaflon Code states it applles only to educadonal instifutions supported etther wholly or in part by state tax funds... The State Board, according to Section I1.24, ls the poliry forming and planning body for the public school iystem of the state. The Texas trgislative Council was correct. There is nothlng ln the Constitution or statutes that authorizes the April 12 resolution by the State Eloard of Education. Therefore. it is void. Texas lnmeschder Vicki futt commertd on thejudge's d.ecision:

A lot ofpeople express confusion about

what this "good c'itizenship" course is, but we've found it's really quite simple. "Good

citizenshtp" apparently Just means that you talk, at some point, about govemment, !!story, laws, citizens' rights and obligations. (lf you_stop at the red light, you're teaihing your child good citizenshipl) As of this wridng, the state's attomey _ hasn't decided whetlier or not they'll app;al. Perhaps ,t'll go to the legtslature and they'll de\dse some gu.idelines for us to follow. We'Il deal with that when we come to it. [.ast vear when the State School Board tried to issue râ‚Źgulaflons on private schools, they were immediately descended upon, in Austin, by SOOO angry and eloquent private and homeschoolers. We found the private school c-ommunity to be, by and large, extremely suppordve of unschoolers.

CALENDAR July 18. 1987: Chrlstian Home Educators Associadon of California statewide cuvenflon. At the Pasadena Conventlon Center in Pasadena, all day. For brochure and reglstradon form, wrlte CHEA of CA, PO Box 2ffiM, Santa Ana CA 92799 -ffi44. Aupust 14- 16: Clonlara Homeschool Jamboree, "Better Education for Tomorrow," at Washtenaw Community College, Ann Arbor, MI. Keynote speaker: Pat MacMillan, educatlonal consultant. TVro davs of workshops. For lnformadon: Clonlara, l28g Jewett St, Ann Arbor MI 48104; 313-7694515.

Septemler 12: Mlnnesota Basic Learning Network's Eclucaflonal Extravaganza, wlth Marva Collins as the kwnote soeaker. For information: Sharon Hillestad,'S66S p tZg St, Hastlngs MN 55O33; 612-437-3o,49. Tentative Plans for Holt Associates Open Houses:

August "Not going back to school: A workshop for new or prospective homeschoolers. " At our ofBce, phone 437-1550. September: "Rememberlng John Holt," We will mark the annlversary of John's death thls year as we dtd last year, wlth a gathering of olil and new frlends at our ofllce. Fhone +521550.

We are happy to run notlces of maJor homeschoollng events, but we need plenty of noflce. Deadllne for GWS #58 (events ln September or later) ls July 15. Deadline for CWS #59 (events in November or later) ls September 15. GROMNG WTIHOUT SCHOOLING #57

CHALLENGBS & CONCERNS YEAR OF UPHEAVAL of

KIn Jelfery unote ln tle Sprfng '87 tssue Pennsylvanla Homeschoolers:

Thds, our fffth school year at home, has been lllled wtth upheaval and transltlon. Due to the children's ages fNathan ls nearly 12, Adam is nearly lO, Blythe is 6, Jordan ls 4, and Anne is l), theA various needs, mY

husband David's back-breaking work schedule, trying to teach three grades simultaneouslyusing a curriculum and trying to steer a path through the usual farni$church-work-schooling pressures, I have felt that I am hanging by a slender thread. One evenlng ln the early fa-ll I was reading a teachtng rrlagazlne while nurslng the baby (one ner-rr does fewer than two or three things simultaneously) and I came across an article on teacher burn-out. The article listed ten symptoms of burn-out and to my surprise I had nine of them. The tenth, aimlessly staring into space, I would have loved to have if l could only have found the tlme. It soundcd so attractlve to mel I didn't really take the test seriously for several months. At that tlme it dawned on me that I wasn't the only person tn the family rvho was burned out - we all were. None of the children seemed to be enJoying any of the schooling with the exception of Blythe who was forever clamorlng ficr more because I had so littJe time to do things with her. Nathan zrnd Adam were whlrdng and listless and hated everythtng, even thtngs they had former\r enJoyed very much. At that time, I realtzed somethtng about the dlfference between home educaflon and school educadon. When I was the age of Nathan and Adam, pertodtcally the pressure of schml. the boredom of subiects that were required but had httle meanirig for my life, the lure of wridng which I found irresistable, all would c'ombine to cau.ce me to just ignore school. I c.ertatnly vras physically present for each class, but l'*ent through the barest mlnlmum of work to scrape by wtthout fatllng. Unless I found a subJect lntensely lnterestlng, I spent my tlme doing other thlnos. I read books that were interesdng interesdr to thtngs. lively me, I wrote storles and plays, I kept up a liv and coplous coplous correspondence with a variety of fi-iends, and essenttrally school Just flowed on around me. Ttris brings up the dillerence - I was ailDud to do that. My parents never knew about lt until report card flme, and slnce I nwer actually fiailed any subJects, they Just encouragd me to work harder. My teachers general$ took ltttle notice of what I did, not because they didn't care but because they seemed genulnely to feel I was old enough to know the conseouenc'es of what I dld and to pay the piper atihe approprlate ttme. Also, because I was always Just one out of thirty, it was dlfllcult for them to monltor my acdvlfles six hours a day. My own chlldren, on the other hand, get away wlth vlrtually nothlng. I know every day whether they've been dlllgent or derellct and when I'm feellng parflcularly pressured by the currlculum, the neamess of the end of the quarter, or my owrr fears about the school dlstrict's reactlon if rpe don't look ltke Harvard University ln each quarterly report, I can lean on them qutte heavlly. Recognizing the dimtntshlng amount of GROWING WTIHOUT SCHOOLING #57

choice I rvas allowin{ my children to have lr. how they spent their days went a long way to helptng us make schooling changes. I saw that I had shackled us to a currlculum wlth whlch I was less and less sausfied and whlch was often meaningless to the chrtldren. As I looked back on oul most sads$ing months of horne education, I reallzed that there had been several factors present at that time: l) The children a-ll worked at essentially the same projects at the same dme. We were not broken lnto grades. Instead, the children studied the same subjects but worked at them according to each child's maturlty and sklll level. 2) Because the children were doing the same studies, they were able to effcrtjvely help one another and to encourage and challenge one another. I was not required to be all things to all children at all times. 3) My dme was less fragmented because I was not preparlng thrc'e lessons for three children in each subject covered by the curriculum. The research to keep up with our curriculum was making me old before my time. We're still feellng our way along, but I've lnsdtuted several changes for the remainder of the school year. I'm attempting to be much more fledble, I'm striving to take advantage of teachable moments instead of cramrning a day's worth of currlculum down weryone's throats. We are still following plans, but I'm not trying to measure the worth of a day by how much \rvr get done. These are all thlngs I used to do as a matter of course, but they had become lost ln the pressures of trying to make sure t}re school distrlct approrred of us. I'm also in the process of revamplng much of the science, soclal studies and grammar, so that all the children can once again be studytng the same subjects at the same dme, regardless of thelr "grade." Already there has been a notlceable dillerence ln the atmosphere around here, and I'm astonlshed that such an obvious solution could have bec.ome hidden for such a long dme. /SS;J R@orters oJten ask ne what halmesrhcrrltng parents do wlen theg st{fer burn-ouL I teL tlam what tlts story tllustrotes so tiuldlg - that parents ore ghsen strchregular and. imntdiateJedback n the things tleg do t]rrrl tleg can ee when somethlng is not u:orking ard decde to W somethtng else. As lorE as chlldten can tell the a,lults amwtd. thent (outisht or tlvottgh ttelr bhnt;lor) tlnt a pottbular apptunch ls rat unrking, ra one will b srl'touslg larmed

bg whateuer the Jamilg d-ies.

LEARNING TO''UNSCHOOL'' Jofut Kane oJ Flalda wrltes: For the flrst few weeks of horneschoollng, Jesslca (l l) Just played. Accordlng to everythtng I had read, that was a perfectly normal way for Jesssica to learn. She played dillerent roles - teacher, mother, store cashier, waltress, dress maker. She played with an electri$lng energ/ I had nerrer seen in her before. She also took the lnlttattve to search out Jobs ln the neighborhood that would pay her fakly good wages, especially for an I I year old. She babvsat for a friend of ours and worked with another friend who was a fashion designer and seamstress. The work was not steady, butJessica took advantage of

anv chance to work there was. Whcn shc rrrinaged to save a tidy sum, she proudly boasted that she wanted to treat the rest of thc family fior dinner - in a restaurant o[ hcr chooslng, ofcourse. During this timc, I saw how skilllul Jessica was In business dealings. She woulcl go to the finest dress shops, find a drcss wtth some imperfection in the sewing, and pro<:ccd to demand a discount if she was to buy it. Shc would then mend it at home, having marnagcd a considerable savings. I couldn't hclp but think of myself at her age, not having the courage to question adults, much less b:rrtcr with them in their own stores. I was quite pleased with the situation until I realzed that tt had been monlhs sint:c Jessica opened a book. I tried to cncoura{c more school work. but it had no cffcct. I a.skcrl Jessica why she hadn't done any of thc s<:hool work that we had planned for hcr, and would she perhaps lke to rearrange thc schcdulc herself. She rcphed that books did not interest her, nor did schoolwork ofany kind. I kept cool at this point, though p:rrt of mc could not condone this complcte dcterchrrtcnt from schoolwork. I decidcd to set tlme asidc with Jcssic:r to lecture her on subjects, as my collcge professors had done with me. I fclt this process had taught me more than iuty tcxt, and I was determined. So aftcr scvcral lectures to a yawning I I year old, I bcg:rn oncc again to realize the futility of my eflorts. My frustration was growing. To make matters worse, a soc'ial worker from the county callcd and sald she was cornlng in two days to chcck on Jessica's progress. When we met with the social worker, I was quite honest. I explained my frustrations with homeschooling. I told her that Jcssica couldn't answer a slmple question like 'What ls the count4r of the rising sun?" The soci:ri worker became quiet, and I was sure it was because she could not beliwe what I had just told her. Instead she shrugged her shouldcrs and admitted that she couldn't answer tlult ouestlon either. After some lauEhter, tensions dased and the socia.l worker told me that my experlence was quite corunon, and there was no need for alarm. She informed me that if I Glt Jessica would not be able to pass a standard achievement test, a psychologist's evaluadon would be an acceptable a.ltemaUve to thc coungr. Both my wife and I decidcd that a psychologist would be more appropriate, and needless to say, Jessica did quite wcll on the evaluation. We all breathed a sigh o[ relief.

I can't help but feel that I leamed as much about myself during that yeâ‚Źrr as I learned

aboutJesslca. I realized that despite whatevcr progresstve vlews I shared with nry generation, there was still, deply buried in my subconsclous, someone who is shacklcd by deep-rooted traditions and cr.rltural taboos. For Jessica, hourever, homeschooling has given her a chance to prepare for and deal with the real world, not some insdtudonallzed fabricaflon in which she spends her dme sharpening pencils and requesttng permisslon to attend to bodily funcdons. In her vear ofhomeschoolinA she developed rnore self-confidence and uscful skills than she could have hoped to accomplish by .tty other means. Jessica decided that she wanted to rcturn to school thds year. My wife and I honored hcr decision and enrolled her. She secmed to